Step 1: Check you are eligible to enrol.
To enrol and complete the Introduction to Coaching Football course, you must be 16 years old or over. You must also hold an in-date:
- Safeguarding Children in Football qualification (or the recertification)
- FA medical qualification, e.g. Introduction to First Aid in Football (IFAIF) (or higher).
* If you have previously held an FA medical qualification (IFAIF or higher) and have since completed a recognised alternative medical award, this can be accepted as an equivalent prerequisite for the course. To view the recognised non-FA medical courses and the process for submission, visit the Accepted non-FA Medical Courses page.
Step 2: Check the available cohorts for this course.
The Introduction to Coaching Football course is broken down into different cohorts within a month. A "Cohort" is simply the specific group of students you’ll be learning alongside. You’ll all be joining the same set of webinars and move through the course together.
The link to access the June cohorts is below:
Introduction to Coaching Football
Each cohort includes three live webinars, all of which you must attend. To find a cohort that works for you:
- scroll down to the ‘Course content’ section on the course page
- expand the ‘Book your webinars’ module using the drop-down arrow
- select a cohort to view its webinar dates.
Step 3: Enrol onto the course
Once you’ve identified your preferred cohort, select ‘Enrol’ at the top right of the page and progress through the eligibility checker This will ensure you meet the enrolment criteria. (detailed above).
Step 4: Book onto you cohort
Once you have enrolled on the Introduction to Coaching Football course, you will be able to access the course content.
Your first required action after enrolment is to book onto your chosen cohort. Booking a cohort secures your place on your preferred webinar dates and ensures you can attend your preferred sessions.
If you do not select a cohort promptly, you may miss out on your preferred webinars and will need to join an alternative cohort instead. Please note that you must be booked onto a cohort to complete the course.
Step 5: Complete your course content
The course is structured in a set order, and activities must be completed sequentially. Content is delivered through a combination of e‑learning modules and live webinars.
You must complete each e‑learning module before attending the related webinar. In addition, you are required to attend each live webinar before progressing to the next module.
This order is designed to support your learning journey, so please ensure you complete the content following the sequence shown in the course structure below. Skipping steps or missing webinars will prevent you from moving forward and completing the course.
1. Course introduction
This module explains the course structure. It also provides the chance to tell us about yourself.
2. How to be a football coach
This module looks at what makes someone a good coach. It also explores how to support your team, whatever their ability. When you finish the module, it's time to attend our webinar on engaging your players.
3. Webinar: How to engage players
This webinar focuses on how to engage your players in any football environment. You must attend this session before completing the next module on how to design a session
4. How to design a session
This module explains why session design is so important. It examines planning, delivery and review. It also looks at how effective sessions can help your players learn about football and build their skills.
5. Webinar: How to develop skilful players
This webinar focuses on helping your players learn about football. You must attend this session before completing the next module on how to run matchday.
6. How to run matchday
This module looks at how to make matchdays safe, fun and inclusive.
7. Webinar: How to manage parent relationships
This webinar examines how to manage your relationship with parents on matchday. You must attend this session before completing the course assessment module.
8. Course assessment
This module focuses on what you’ve learnt. You’ll take a short assessment that examines how well you can apply the information we’ve covered.
9. Course summary
This module sums up the course. It reviews your learning objectives and provides the opportunity to give feedback.
Course Completion Requirements
Once you have completed all e-learning modules and attended all live webinar sessions, you will be able to download your certificate and the completion will be recorded against your FAN/account. You can view your full digital record of achievement through your My Account.
